A West Ham pair catch the eye despite playing thousands of miles apart, a Crystal Palace player actually scores a goal – in vain, fittingly enough – and results set up a massive Monday night for many Premier League assets.
Here are the notes from a dramatic Friday night of World Cup qualifying action.
Hammers duo in the spotlight
West Ham players were to the fore on two continents in Friday’s World Cup qualifiers.
Striker Javier Hernandez scored in Mexico’s 3-1 win over Trinidad and Tobago, while his club team-mate Marko Arnautovic was on target as Austria beat Serbia in a 3-2 thriller.
The midfielder recovered from illness to play the full 90 minutes for Austria, who did a huge favour to both Wales and the Republic of Ireland by beating the Group D leaders.
Serbia’s goals came from Crystal Palace’s Luka Milivojevic – only the second Eagle to score all season – and Man United midfielder Nemanja Matic.
Southampton’s Dusan Tadic and Newcastle striker Aleksandar Mitrovic also played the full 90 minutes for the Serbs, who will now have to beat Georgia at home on Monday to guarantee automatic qualification for next year’s finals in Russia.
The form of both Hernandez and Arnautovic could be welcome news for Fantasy managers looking to tap into Hammers assets.
Slaven Bilic’s side, who have won two and drawn one of their last four matches, have a good run of fixtures through to Gameweek 14, with only a visit from Liverpool representing a major test.
Hernandez (19.3%) is the fifth most popular Fantasy Premier League striker, and he has now scored twice in his last three matches for club and country.
Monday night showdown looms
Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey provided the assist for Wales’ winning goal in Georgia.
Chris Coleman’s side was packed with Premier League players, including Ashley Williams, Ben Davies, Andy King, Joe Allen, Sam Vokes and Wayne Hennessey. Hal Robson-Kanu and Ben Woodburn were handed late minutes from the bench.
The Welsh now face a winner-takes-all match at home to the Republic of Ireland on Monday.
Martin O’Neill’s side beat Moldova 2-0, with assists coming from Brighton’s Shane Duffy and Burnley defender Stephen Ward – that’s back-to-back assists for the Clarets full-back now.
Newcastle’s Ciaran Clark, Duffy and Ward all started and finished the match for the Irish, while Southampton striker Shane Long played 83 minutes and Bournemouth’s Harry Arter recovered from an Achilles injury to play the final 11 minutes.
The victory means that any one of Wales, Ireland and Serbia can still win Group D, with a play-off place for finishing second also up for grabs.
Draws for Serbia and Wales would secure them first and second place respectively.
Elsewhere…
Defenders Matteo Darmian (Man United) and Davide Zappacosta (Chelsea) played the full 90 minutes as Italy were held to a shock 1-1 draw at home by Macedonia.
Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini was an unused sub for the Italians, who now face a play-off to make it to Russia next year after Spain won Group G with a 3-0 win over Albania.
David de Gea played the full match and David Silva 74 minutes, while Cesar Azpilicueta, Pedro and Nacho Monreal watched on from the bench.
Everton playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson put in a full shift as Iceland edged closer to a first ever World Cup finals with a 3-0 win in Turkey achieved with just 25% possession.
Burnley midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson played 82 minutes.
Ivory Coast duo Eric Bailly and Serge Aurier started and finished a goalless draw with Mali. Swansea City striker Wilfried Bony shook off a hamstring issue to travel with the squad, but didn’t even make the bench.
Brighton striker Tomer Hemed, currently serving a three-match domestic ban, played the full 90 minutes as Israel won 1-0 in Liechtenstein, while the man he was cited for stamping on, Newcastle defender DeAndre Yedlin, started for the USA in a 4-0 victory over Panama.
Stoke City defender Geoff Cameron was an unused sub as the Americans closed in on qualification for Russia 2018.
Burnley striker Chris Wood kept up his fine form with a goal for New Zealand in their 2-1 friendly defeat to Japan. Southampton centre-half Maya Yoshida played the full match for the hosts.
England’s U21 side beat their Scottish counterparts 3-1 in Euro U21 qualifying. Swansea City’s Tammy Abraham converted a penalty and Liverpool forward Dominic Solanke was also on the scoresheet.
